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It was just that, the last time she’d been in Bonni
e’s wedding, she’d felt the brush of Damon’s admiring regard from his seat in the audience.
Bonnie and Zander were heading down the aisle, leaving the church, and it was time to follow them. Elena took the arm of her werewolf groomsman—Spencer, the preppy one—and laughed politely at his joke without really hearing it.
Outside, it was early evening, and the leaves were just beginning to change. There was a briskness in the air, the beginning of fall. Fall, again. The last time she’d been in Fell’s Church in the fall was seven years ago, although it only felt like a few weeks, the night she’d said good-bye to Stefan and Damon.
They were out there somewhere—probably—and she should be glad of it, was glad of it, fiercely glad that they were still alive.
She felt that wistfulness again, stronger still, at the beginning of the reception, when Jared, Zander’s best man, started his toast.
“Uh …” the shaggy-haired werewolf began, “when Zander started dating Bonnie, we all thought she was awesome, but we were like, ‘Really?’ because she wasn’t, uh, the same kind of person we were.” Looking around the circle of faces smiling at him, Jared’s eyes went wide and panicky.
This was the same toast Jared had given in that other world, so Elena knew he’d be able to pull it together. But that time, Damon’s eyes had met Elena’s, and she had felt Damon’s rich amusement coming straight through the bond between them. They’d both laughed at the same time, quiet laughter at an inside joke.
At this wedding without that bond, without Damon, Elena felt slightly adrift.
After the toast, she and Meredith picked up their place cards and found their tables at the reception. There was someone already sitting there, and Elena grinned with delight. “Matt!”
Matt—bigger and broader than the last time she’d seen him, but with the same open, friendly face—got to his feet and hugged them both. Beside him, a tiny woman, almost as tiny as Bonnie, jumped to her feet and hugged them, too, blond curls bouncing over her shoulders.
“This is Jeannette,” Matt said proudly.
“I’ve heard so much about you!” she said, excitedly to Elena. “Matt and I keep saying we’re going to come to Europe and see everything you’ve been e-mailing him about since college. The gallery and all.”
Sue Carson and her husband and a couple of Bonnie’s college friends came to join them at the table, and the next few minutes were full of greetings and introductions.
“I’m going to get another drink,” Jeannette said brightly after a few minutes, hopping up from the table. “I know you want a beer, honey, and can I get anyone else anything?”
Matt watched her walk away with a fond, proud smile. “She’s great, isn’t she?” he asked. “Did I tell you she’s finishing up vet school? And not just poodles and things. She’s going to be a large animal vet. As little as she is, she can handle a bull or a wild horse.”
“She seems terrific,” Elena said, sipping her wine. She was happy for Matt, but she couldn’t help missing Jasmine, the girlfriend he’d had for so long in the world she remembered. Maybe not everyone had a soul mate.
A thick band across one of Matt’s fingers caught her eye, and she leaned forward suddenly, shocked. “Matt Honeycutt! Is that a Super Bowl ring?”
Matt blushed, and Meredith stared at her in disbelief. “Honestly, Elena,” Meredith said. “I know you live in France, but don’t you even hear who wins the Super Bowl?”
Elena was momentarily dumbfounded, but Matt just rubbed at the back of his neck, embarrassed. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I’m not first string, I only played for a little while.”
“Are you kidding?” Elena said, and got up to hug him. “It’s a huge deal.” She held onto him tightly for a moment. He was happy and successful. Even without Jasmine. Maybe this is his true destiny.
Time passed and Elena drank wine and talked to familiar faces. Dinner was served, salmon or steak, and the DJ began to play. Bonnie and Zander came out onto the dance floor for their first dance, gazing up into each other’s eyes. Elena was watching their dance from the half-empty table when she looked up and saw a familiar face. Alaric.
He was listening to Meredith, his sandy head inclined politely as she talked, a smile on his handsome, boyish face.
Alaric Saltzman had been called in by some of the citizens of Fell’s Church to investigate Mr. Tanner’s death. He had taken over as their history teacher to investigate the possibility of vampires being behind Tanner’s murder.
In a world where Mr. Tanner had lived, Alaric had never come to Fell’s Church. They had never met him.
So why was he at Bonnie’s wedding? Why was he talking to Meredith?
“Who’s that with Meredith?” she asked, leaning across the table toward Matt and interrupting his conversation with Sue Carson. They both looked.
“I don’t know,” Matt said, and Sue shook her head. “One of Zander’s friends, probably.”
As they watched, Meredith took Alaric’s hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor.
“He’s cute,” Sue said. “They look good together.”
